Nats pitcher allows five runs in rehab start at Hagerstown
HAGERSTOWN, MD – Part of any rehabilitation process involves nights like this one. So crisp and in command during his second start back from Tommy John surgery last Friday, Stephen Strasburg experienced the reverse side of missing 11 months of competitive baseball.
Pitching again for the low-A Hagerstown Suns at Municipal Stadium on Wednesday night, Strasburg’s fastball was routinely tattooed by the Lexington Legends batters. His breaking pitches just as often fooled the home-plate umpire and went for balls. He was even charged with a wild pitch.
| Strasburg Notes |
| Nats pitcher Stephen Strasburg expects to pitch again on Monday, Aug. 22. If that date holds it likely would have to be another appearance in Hagerstown. That’s the only Washington affiliate with a home game on that date. |
| Attendance in Hagerstown was 3,021 fans for Strasburg’s third rehab start. |
| Washington left-handed reliever Doug Slaten, out since June 3 with ulnar neuritis in his left elbow, made a rehab appearance of his own in Hagerstown on Wednesday. He pitched a scoreless third inning with a strikeout. |
In the end, Strasburg allowed five earned runs on four hits with two walks. Given a 50-pitch lease he didn’t make it that far, leaving the game after 1 2/3 innings after pitch No. 49. He was credited with a no-decision – not exactly what Strasburg had in mind. Hagerstown eventually won a high-scoring affair 9-6.
“Sometimes it’s good to have games like this because you need to kind of get knocked around a little bit to see what you’ve been doing wrong,” Strasburg said. “I think I learned a lot from this outing, especially. Talked to [Suns] pitching coach Chris Michalak about it after. We had a good conversation. I have some things to work on. It’s just another step in the road. It can only get better from here.”
Strasburg’s first 64 pitches in rehab starts at Hagerstown and high-A Potomac featured 51 strikes. No one in his second start managed to hit a ball out of the infield. That was not the case against Lexington. Strasburg needed 25 pitches just to record his first out and 33 to escape the first inning. Delino DeShields led off with a walk. Tyler Burnett ripped a fastball for a double. Domingo Santana punched a hard single into the outfield. Telvin Nash then ripped another double
“I felt like I was throwing strikes. But you got guys out there that you know they’re going to be ambushing you from first pitch on,” Strasburg said. “I thought I was throwing the ball down. But looking back on it I think where I was trying to throw it wasn’t necessarily where I needed to.”
With three runs in, Strasburg settled down. He got a ground out to first base, struck out another batter looking and induced a line drive to the right fielder. But an Emilio King double and a walk to DeShields put runners on base again in the second inning and an errant curve ball bounced to the backstop for a wild pitch. Strasburg struck out Burnett swinging to finish his night. But even after he left a two-run single off reliever Don Brown put five runs on Strasburg’s account. In all, Strasburg managed to induce a swing-and-a-miss just four times.
“Right now is my breaking ball command isn’t where it was,” Strasburg said. “They say it’s the last thing to come [after Tommy John surgery]. I’m just waiting for it to come back. It felt like it was back in Potomac [last Friday]. But it kind of went backwards today. It didn’t feel like I was throwing it right, which I guess is a good thing. Because if everything felt good and I still couldn’t throw it for a strike I’d be kind of nervous.”
